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Aseguradora VHV achieves record result before management change
Hanover.“We can look back on a very successful financial year. All the key figures clearly point upwards.” At his last balance sheet press conference, the outgoing CEO of the Hannover-based VHV group, Uwe Reuter, presented record results. The insurer, to which Hannoversche Leben also belongs, made a profit of 291 million euros in 2021, after 183 million euros the previous year. The 66-year-old explained that the company “significantly exceeded” its plans both in number of contracts and in income from contributions.
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Read more after the announcement
According to information provided by the member of the Board of Directors Thomas Voigt, who will succeed Reuters on June 1, the VHV Group was less affected than many other insurers by storm “Bernd” with heavy rains and dramatic flooding, especially in the Ahr valley. However, there have been several hail events, especially in southern Germany, which have barely been noticed in the national media, but have resulted in considerable costs for the Hannover insurance group.
Higher costs for auto insurers
In the motor vehicle insurance segment, the number of contracts increased 3.5 percent to 7.87 million. Premium income increased by 1.6 percent to 1,520 million euros. In this business segment, VHV has “tweaked” its strategy, Voigt said. The company no longer relies on “going to the market with the lowest prices” in year-end exchange competition. Rather, customers must retain the service package offered, despite “prudent” price increases. This worked, Voigt said. “We had significantly fewer layoffs at the beginning of the year.”
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Read more after the announcement
Car rates are still under severe pressure as reported damage amounts and rental car prices for downtime after an accident have risen. “Spare parts are now up to 25 percent more expensive.” Electric vehicles’ share of the business remains “extremely small,” he said.
According to Voigt, VHV has more recently profited as a construction insurance specialist. In the construction industry, the order situation continued to be good. As prices in the construction industry have risen, this has pumped more money into VHV’s coffers. Contributions are based on the sums of the insured construction projects.
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On June 1 there will be a change of management at the VHV Group: CEO Uwe Reuter (right) will step down. Thomas Voigt (left) will succeed him.
© Source: Tim Schaarschmidt
VHV chief moves to supervisory board
Uwe Reuter has he vacated his office the day before Ascension Day and explained the course of the last financial year to media representatives one last time. Reuter will hand over the top position of the VHV Group at the end of May. However, he is not retiring: he has been appointed to the supervisory board and will take up the supervisory mandate on July 1. Since 2003, Reuter has been CEO of the VHV Group, which at the time emerged from the merger with Hannoversche Leben.
his successor Thomas Voigt came to VHV in 1988 after studying economics. Since 2003 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of VHV Holding AG responsible for so-called compound insurance. Since 2009, the 61-year-old has been a spokesman for the board of directors of VHV Allgemeine Versicherung AG. Until now, the manager has been responsible for auto insurance products, construction business and property and casualty.
Investments in digitization
Reuter said that VHV had started a “fitness program” under his tutelage that will continue and that productivity has increased 3 to 5 percent a year for the past 15 years. Part of the program is also “the complete renewal of the IT landscape”. The company is aligning processes with the digitization of business processes. In the last five years, half the way has already been covered and of the 500 million euros planned for this task, a good 280 million euros have already been invested, only last year an amount in the double digits.
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Read more after the announcement
Many jobs created
However, digitization and productivity growth have not led to a reduction in the number of employees, on the contrary: as a result of growing commercial success, the VHV Group now has just over 3,300 employees, around 550 more than in 2016. Around 2,500 employees work in Hanover.
The VHV Group increased the total number of insurance policies taken out with it by 3.3 percent to 12.33 million contracts last year. Premium income rose 3 percent to 3.63 billion euros. The insurer gained market share, the board reported. In addition to efficient structures and low costs, success factors also included high customer satisfaction and low churn rates. The capital of the VHV Foundation is increased by 20 million to 70 million euros.
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By Ralph Huebner